4th of July Cupcake Flag

I was inspired to make this after seeing something similar in a Food Network magazine.

In their version, they did little pastry shells and filled them with vanilla custard, and used blueberries and strawberries to decorate the colors of the flag.

I decided to do vanilla mini-cupcakes and just use colored icing.

I did blue with white stars, and then rows of red and white for the stripes. 

I would have done more stripes to make it a little more accurate, but I ran out of red icing, so this is what I could do.

I think it turned out really cute!

And what I like best is that it's a dessert that people can just grab one of, making it less messy and easy to just set out and have people take as they want.

Cupcake Fun

I love to save myself time and work by using store-bought box mixes for things. 

You can make them "semi-homeade" by adding flavored extract to the mix and by topping them with creative little touches!

I made these strawberry cupcakes with white icing and different colored sprinkles. 

I think it's more fun to eat treats that are pretty!

Pesto Pasta

I really love pesto, and there are so many different ways you make it. 

This one is angel hair pasta with a basil and cilantro pesto sauce:

-a handful of basil leaves (about 10 leaves)

-one small bunch of cilantro, discard stems

-about 1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil

-one clove of garlic (or two small cloves)

-about 1/4-1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1.  Put all ingredients, except the oil, in a food processor.

2.  Turn on processor, and slowly add in the oil until it is the consistency that you want.

That's it!  You can make pesto with any kinds of herbs you want.  I have done a mint pesto before, and it is really good- a little spicy!  Traditionally, you add pine nuts as well, but I left them out. 

Chicken Pasta Salad

I love a good pasta salad!  I especially love that you can make them so many different ways.  This is one of my go-to recipes:

-1 lb. bowtie pasta

-about 1 cup of roughly diced/shredded rotisserie chicken breast

-1/2 red onion, thinly sliced and cut in half

-1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced and cut in half

-1 bundle of small asparagus (just cut the top pieces)

-about 1 cup mozzarella cheese (grated or diced into small pieces)

-a few basil leaves, chopped

-balsamic vinegar, enough to coat (about 1/2 cup?)

-good olive oil, enough to coat (about 1/2 cup?)

-salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Cook pasta al dente.  Drain and coat with a little bit of oil so it doesn't stick together.  Put pasta in a large bowl.

2.  Wash and cut all the vegetables.  Add to the pasta. 

3.  Prepare the chicken- you can cut it with a knife or pull it apart with your fingers. Add to the pasta.

4.  Chop basil and add to pasta.

5.  Toss pasta with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Sometimes I just use an Italian dressing or a roasted red pepper Italian dressing too.

6.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Chicken Chili

Everybody makes their chili differently.  This is my favorite way:

-diced chicken breast (I like to use rotisserie chicken)

-1 yellow onion, diced

-1 red bell pepper, diced

-2 cloves of garlic, diced

-1 can petite diced tomatoes

-1 can chili beans

-1 can white corn, drained

-about 1-2 cup(s) of spaghetti sauce (I like Hunt's Four Cheese)

-about 1 cup of chicken broth (give or take)

-about 1-2 tsps of cumin

-about 1-2 tblsps of chili powder

(or you just use a packet of chili powder mix, like McCormick's)

-a few splashes of hot sauce

-red pepper flakes (to taste)

You can make this in a crock pot or a dutch oven/large pot on the stove:

1.  Coat the bottom of the pot with 2 tblsp of olive oil.

2.  Sautee the onions, red pepper and garlic for about five minutes.

3.  Add the chicken, tomatoes, corn, beans, tomato sauce, broth and stir

4.  Add the spices, hot sauce and chili flakes and stir.

5.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low for at least an hour (in crockpot, set on high for a few hours)

6.  Serve topped with cheese and with chips

I make this chili a lot!  I love to eat it as leftovers because it's always better the next day.  By the third day, if there is any leftover, I try to get creative with it and put it over fries or spaghetti.  I love to eat this, though, because it's actually really healthy for you and because you can change it anyway you want to.  Sometimes I substitute black beans or add yellow/orange peppers.  Sometimes I make it with ground beef or turkey, but chicken is my favorite.

Santa's Sleigh

I found a great idea about making Santa's sleigh from a Sandra Lee show.  It's so easy!

-graham crackers

-red and white icing

-candy canes

-coconut

-little santa candy

1.  Frost one graham cracker with white icing, and another with red.

2.  On the white cracker, place two candy canes on the top at the sides. 

3.  Put a little extra icing on top of the candy canes and put the red cracker on top.

4.  Decorate with coconut to look like snow and put Santa on his sleigh!

*Sandra also did a seat made out of licorice to put Santa on, and did a sack made out of a fruit roll-up, with starburst presents inside and on the sleigh for decoration.

Barrette Organizer

This was made for Kate by her former childcare provider.  It's pretty cute and really easy, and so useful!  You can buy the wooden shapes at any craft store and and paint it.  Then just attach a ribbon from the bottom and you can clip all of your barrettes onto it.  Makes life a lot easier for us with Kate!

I also like doing these coat hangers.